Grand Coulee Dam Breaks The Sound Barrier

Every evening between May and October, the story of the Columbia River, and how the Grand Coulee Dam came to be built is played out on the water that flows over the spillway, the face of the dam, and the canyon walls, in a magnificent 37-minute, 1.5-mile wide laser light show. The show can be seen and heard from the four-acre rivers edge, to the upper parking lot, as well as from the seating areas at the Visitor's Center.

Lynnwood, WA (PRWeb) January 5, 2007 -- Electrocom Sound and Communications (http://www.electrocom.us)was selected to design and install a new sound system at the Grand Coulee Dam. The new sound system specified by (Dept. of Reclamation (http://www.usbr.gov/)) Grand Coulee Dam, allowed Electrocom to be very creative in the design, and innovative in the products they selected to use. Grand Coulee (http://www.grandcouleedam.org/)requested a sound system that called for a "uniform sound pressure level" (a term most often used in measuring the magnitude of sound) at various seating and viewing sites, while limiting the sound level measured at 63 different locations around the four-acre perimeter, so as not to disturb the surrounding neighborhood.

"We have designed and installed numerous sound reinforcement and intercom systems; including Boeing's entire high bay paging system, as well as sound and paging systems for the Port of Seattle. The majority of our video and sound reinforcement system design is in K-12 school gyms, band, music room, classrooms, auditoriums, and sports stadiums," said Loren Timmons, Educational Systems Consultant at Electrocom. "There is no doubt Electrocom has the experience to design and install a sound system of the complexity and magnitude requested by The Department of Reclamation".

Designing of the sound system aside, the number one question is what loudspeaker could possibly survive the harsh environmental conditions found at the Grand Coulee Dam? With severe winter cold, hot dry summers, and winds that can reach 80mph, having to replace the outdoor loudspeakers on a regular basis due to weather damage, could become a very expensive and ongoing problem.

"Our design team decided to use the Technomad (http://technomad.com)loudspeaker and the Crown (http://www.crownaudio.com/) CT410 power amp. We have installed hundreds of Technomad speakers in dozens of outdoor applications; including ice hockey arenas, and virtually every high school stadium throughout Western Washington," said Tom Dietz, Sales Engineer at Electrocom. "These speakers are completely impervious to the weather, blowing sand, and hockey pucks; which believe it or not, destroy a lot of loudspeakers."

The system Electrocom installed consisted of ten 70-volt Technomad Berlin 15/H 300 watt, military-specification weatherized loudspeakers driven by 5,000-watts of power from ten Crown CT410 power amps. Six Technomad Berlin-H's are used to cover the four-acre park, and an additional four Berlin-Hs are used to cover the one-acre Visitor's Center main and upper parking lot. Thirty-two mushroom loudspeakers were installed along the base of the upper parking lot bleacher seating-area.

For large events on Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day, up to 10,000 spectators are usually in attendance. Ron Rowe, the dam's Director of Engineering stated, "Electrocom exceeded their expectations. The spectacular laser show, combined with the new, highly efficient loudspeaker system assures there is not a bad seat in the house, regardless of the size of the crowd".

ABOUT ELECTROCOM:

Electrocom is a leader in innovative sound reinforcement and intercommunications design and installation. Responsible for the majority of school and health care facility intercom/clock sales and installations in Western Washington, Electrocom offers a no obligation sound reinforcement evaluation to school districts throughout Western Washington. Their evaluation includes sound reinforcement design for a school gym, band and music rooms, sport stadium, commons, or classrooms. Electrocom, established in 1946, is an exclusive dealer for companies such as Technomad, Rauland-Borg, (http://www.rauland.com/) and Yamaha. (http://www.yamaha.com/yec/)

ABOUT TECHNOMAD:

Technomad Associates, LLC, founded in 1995, designs and manufactures loudspeaker systems for the professional audio and security/military technology industries. The company invented the first reliable full-range weatherproof loudspeaker and now offers eight models ranging in power from the 60-watt Vernal 15 to the 800-watt Chicago 15/12 subwoofer. In 2000, Technomad introduced its range of complete Turnkey PA systems that have turned previous complex integration jobs into simple, one-line orders.

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